1. Technical Field
The present invention generally relates to improved networked computer systems and in particular to improved wireless communications over networked computer systems. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to improved communications over a combination of wired and wireless data processing systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
In today's society, the use of the internet and the World Wide Web (WWW or Web) have become pervasive. The Web, a global network of interconnected computer systems which communicate using common protocols and addressing means, allows users to receive information on almost any topic at the press of a button or the click of a mouse, and is becoming the research tool of choice for many users.
Further, the Web is being used more every day as a means to transact business, make purchases, manage investments, and perform other interactive tasks. A user is increasingly able to perform almost any type of personal or business transaction simply by using his client-side data processing system to access a server system to perform the transaction on-line.
Internet use is no longer limited to wired connections such as analog Plain-Old-Telephone-System (POTS) modems, ISDN, and xDSL. Every day, it is becoming more common for users to access the Internet via portable data processing systems that use a wireless connection to the internet. One common example of this is a typical laptop computer systems with a modem that is connected to a wireless telephone. Relatively new examples of this technology are wireless digital telephones and handheld computers with integrated access to the internet over a wireless digital network. These systems use a simplified Web browser which is modified to accommodate the limited display capabilities of the systems.
For example, the PalmPilot® family of PDA systems has Web browsing software like the HandWeb and ProxiWeb. Windows CE and some digital PCS telephones also have Web browsing software.
One significant drawback to using these wireless devices to connect to the internet is that the cost of wireless communication systems are prohibitively high. In some common wireless systems, the cost-per-byte for content delivery is very high relative to wired systems or voice communications. To address this, most wireless devices use some mechanism to reduce the amount of data downloaded from a given website. Common techniques include accessing websites which have content specially designed for wireless devices, with simplified menu options and reduced amounts of text. Another technique is that of “Web clipping,” which is essentially the dilution of Web content to essential truncated text. Further, most wireless browsers eliminate any graphics from the website displayed.
The cost differential between wired and wireless internet systems makes these sort of approaches attractive. While wired connections have become relatively inexpensive, even for “dedicated” connections that are continually connected to the internet, wireless systems are still very expensive, and are generally billed either by the length of time the user is connected to the internet, the amount of data transferred, or both. The content-reduction techniques outlined above are used to minimize the cost of the connections.
An unfortunate side effect of these approaches is that the user loses a great deal of the content he was seeking in the first place. While these techniques generally allow the user to perform some basic functions or retrieve some limited information, the user is prevented from seeing the websites in their entirety or from seeing any accompanying graphics or illustrations. Further, the more content he does display on the wireless connection, the more expensive it is.
Often, in order for the user to see the entire web page he was looking for, the user must access the web from a wired data processing system, and look up each page from that connection in order to fully view or print it. Because of the “hyperlinked” nature of the Web, it is often difficult for a user to relocate a particular page on the wired system that he had viewed on the wireless system. It would therefore be desirable to provide a means for a user to easily coordinate the use of a wireless internet connection with the use of a less-expensive wired Internet connection, so that web pages can be viewed less expensively and without unnecessary inefficiency. Even more desirable would be a means for a user to easily coordinate the use of both a relatively expensive and relatively inexpensive connection, whether the distinction be connection speed, connection method, or otherwise, so that the data can be transferred and used less expensively and without unnecessary inefficiency.